Biathlon: individual results fall short of expectations for Les Bleus
On Wednesday night inÖstersund (Sweden), the French men’s biathlon team did not get their individual season off to the best possible start. Although the French team wanted to get off to a flying start to make their mark, they were overtaken by their rivals in the individual races. Eric Perrot (18/20), in tenth place, was the best placed, nearly 3 minutes behind the winner Johan-Olav Botn (20/20).
“It’s hard! It’s a reminder of how hard twenty kilometres can be… Overall, I’m satisfied with my race, with a biathlon as committed as I wanted it to be,” said the Peiserot, the reigning world champion in the event, to La Chaîne L’Equipe. Now there are two mistakes too many and that last ball is a bit frustrating. Tenth isn’t what I want, but it’s a good start. Maybe I lacked a bit of determination to finish the job.
Describing himself as “feverish” following last weekend’s races, Eric Perrot didn’t feel he was “at 100%”.
Three boys in the top 15, all the same
Behind the Savoyard, we find Emilien Jacquelin (18/20) eleventh, Quentin Fillon-Maillet (17/20) fifteenth, Fabien Claude (16/20) twenty-sixth, Emilien Claude (18/20) thirty-eighth and Antonin Guigonnat (17/20) forty-fifth.
It’s a slightly timid start,” says Les Bleus coach Simon Fourcade. As we saw at the weekend, there’s a very high density and a lot of athletes who can play. Yesterday evening [Tuesday evening], I warned that there was going to be a very high density because a lot of athletes had shown great things in the relays.
And that was confirmed in this first individual outing of the winter. “We were also a little too timid with our shooting to hope for anything better. We’re where we should have been today, but there are good hopes that we’ll be able to raise our game again this weekend,” concluded Simon Fourcade, already looking ahead to Saturday’s sprint.
- The full programme for the Östersund World Cup, the first stage of the 2025/2026 season
- Caroline Colombo: my best memory of… Österusnd
- “When it performs, it creates momentum”: the relays on the opening weekend of the World Cup in Östersund, important events to get the French team on the right track
- Östersund: Jeanne Richard, Océane Michelon, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and Lou Jeanmonnot dominate the women’s relay, the first race of the winter season
- “It’s a great team effort”: on their first outing of the winter in Östersund, Les Bleues have already won the World Cup
- Östersund: France’s Fabien Claude, Quentin Fillon-Maillet, Emilien Jacquelin and Eric Perrot second in the relay won by Norway
- “A good relay in tempo”: behind the Norwegians in the Östersund relay, the French get their winter off to a good start
- “There’s this desire to go for the greatest medal of all”: beaten by Norway in the first relay of the season, Les Bleus have their sights set on Olympic gold
- Östersund: Sweden win the mixed singles relay ahead of Norway, Fabien Claude and Camille Bened third for France
- “It’s important in a career”: Camille Bened takes her first World Cup relay podium finish in the mixed singles relay in Östersund
- “It’s wonderful to see her so happy and fulfilled”: former biathlete Chloé Bened reacts emotionally to her older sister Camille Bened’s first World Cup podium finish.
- Östersund: Emilien Jacquelin, Eric Perrot, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and Lou Jeanmonnot win the mixed relay for France
- Östersund World Cup: Corinne Niogret’s debrief (relays)
- Point 15.6.3.c. of the IBU regulations: why can the French women’s team field seven biathletes in Östersund?
- Östersund: in the opening individual race, Lou Jeanmonnot will wear the red bib, Franziska Preuss the yellow jersey
- Östersund: Dorothea Wierer triumphs in the individual event ahead of Sonja Leinamo and Camille Bened, who takes her first solo podium finish
- Östersund: five years later, Dorothea Wierer dons the yellow bib again
- “It’s the fruit of a lot of hard work”: an emotional Camille Bened talks about her third place in the Östersund individual event
- “I had to be extra vigilant all the time”: Camille Bened reveals why she took the (winning) gamble of having her left shoulder operated on last April
- Camille Bened as told by her first coach Martin Bouchet after her podium finish in Östersund: “She was already a great fighter who never gave up”.
- Östersund: Camille Bened became the eleventh Frenchwoman to finish on an individual World Cup podium since the start of the 2022/2023 season.
- “I feel like I’m dreaming”: an unexpected first podium for Sonja Leinamo
- Maya Cloetens, sixth in the Östersund individual, takes part in her first World Cup flower ceremony: “It’s just crazy, I don’t realise it yet”.
- “I’m taking my toll with every lap”: twenty-ninth in the first race of the winter in Östersund, Franziska Preuss worries about her fitness
- Ahead of the first individual race of the winter, Eric Perrot told Nordic Magazine : “I feel really ready to take part in the general classification”.
- Östersund: Johan-Olav Botn takes his first World Cup win by winning the individual, Eric Perrot best Frenchman
- Östersund: Johan-Olav Botn takes the yellow bib for the first time in his career
